Angling and locking arrangement for vehicular mounted plow attachments



Nov. 21,1967 w. w. KING MOUNTED PLOW ATTACHMENTS Filed Dec. 21, 1964ANGLING AND LOCKING ARRANGEMENT FOR MEHICULAR FIG. 4

INVENTOR. WILLIAM W. KING ATTORNEYS United States Patent Ofitice3,353,287 ANGLING AND LOCKING ARRANGEMENT FOR VEHICULAR MOUNTED PLOWATTACHMENTS William W. King, Cleveland, Ohio, assignor to MeyerProducts, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio Filed Dec. 21, 1964, Ser. No. 420,039 9Claims. (CI. 37-42) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The disclosure pertainsto the art of vehicular plow blade attachments of the type including alocking and release mechanism which may be actuated to permit horizontalangular adjustment of the plow blade. The mechanism includes ahorizontal plate attached to the back of the plow blade which is movablerelative to a locking member mounted on a yoke fastened on the front ofthe vehicle which supports the plow blade. The horizontal plate has anarcuately formed edge with circumferentially spaced radial notchestherein adapted to receive a shear pin entering directly from the rearto lock the blade in a predetermined angular relationship.

This invention pertains to the art of vehicle mounted plow bladeattachments and more particularly to a new and improved blade angle andlock adjustment therefor.

The invention is particularly adapted to and will be described withparticular reference to a plow blade attachment where it is necessary toperiodically change the angles of the blade relative to its supportingvehicle.

It is customary to mount snow plow attachments or the like on the frontof specially adapted motorized vehicles so that the attachment can beraised or lowered with respect to the ground to adjust the verticalposition of the plow blade. It is also common to permit angulation ofthe plow blade in a horizontal plane.

The latter adjustment may not necessarily be controlled from the cab ofthe vehicle and is often set at the start of operation. Any subsequentchange in the blade angle requires that the operator dismount andmanually change the blade angle.

In the usual arrangement, the plow blade is rigidly mounted on a yokethat is pivoted relative to a frame member having a series ofcircumferentially spaced holes therein. The yoke has a corresponding setof holes and by angling the blade, two holes may be aligned to receive ametal shear pin thus to lock the blade in the desired angular positionwhile at the same time providing a safety yield point that will releasethe blade when a turning force is received in excess of a predeterminedvalue.

Two problems are presented with this arrangement. Aligning the openingsexactly to receive the pin is difficult in actual service conditions.Secondly, removal of the old pin may be ditficult due to the presence ofice or snow or to burrs resulting from the shearing off of the pin.

The present invention contemplates a new and improved blade angling andlocking arrangement which overcome all these difficulties and others. j

In accordance with the invention the angling and locking arrangementcomprises a member having a curved, notched edge and a latch memberradially movable into and out of the notches, one of the members beingmounted on the blade movable relative to the other mounted on thevehicle with the blade pivot axis as a center.

- Further in accordance with the invention the latch member is normallybiased toward the notches but can be restrained in one position out ofengagement therewith and the blade can be freely angled with the latchmember in the restrained position, but when released the latch memberautomatically locks into engagement with the curved edge member. In theevent the blade is angled too far or not enough, the latch member whenreleased may not drop into one of the notches of the curved edge, thenin accordance with the invention, additional angling of the bladeresults in the latch member snap-locking with one of the notches whenbrought into alignment with it.

Further in accordance with the invention the curved edge of the onemember is guided in a horizontally extending slot of a mounting assemblyand the latch member includes a radially movable shear pin positionablevertically through the slot when in registry with one of the notches.

Further in accordance with the invention, the shear pin is segmentedalong its length with each segment being approximately equal to thevertical width of the horizontal slot, the segments tending to shearwithout leaving burrs or causing the shear pin to bend when a turningforce on the blade is received in excess of a predetermined value.

Further in accordance with the invention and particularly where asegmented shear pin is used, the latching member includes a tubularhousing adapted to hold the shear pin and an element cooperating withthe tubular housing and shear pin for vertically adjusting the pinheight with respect to the horizontal slot.

The invention has as one of its objects a plow angling and lockingarrangement which is inexpensive to manufacture, readily adaptable toexisting plow attachments, will reduce wear of parts and permit morerapid angulation and locking of the blade under operating conditions.

Another object is the provision of a blade angling and lockingarrangement in which a latch member is radially movable into and out oflocking engagement rather than being pulled axially through alignedholes thereby facilitating rapid blade angling.

Another object is to provide a blade angling and locking arrangementincluding a latch member spring biased into locking engagement incombination with means for holding the member out of locking engagementthus making it easier to adjust the blade angle when required.

Another object is to provide an elongated shear pin and mountingarrangement whereby a single shear pin may be used a plurality of timesbefore a new one is required.

Another object is to provide a shear pin divided into a plurality ofsegments which will shear from the body of the pin cleanly and withoutappreciable bending.

These and other objects will be more fully appreciated by referring tothe following description and drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary plan view of a plow attachment incorporating apreferred embodiment of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the attachment shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view showing the preferredembodiment of the invention in the blade locking position; and

FIGURE 4 is an offset sectional view taken along line 44 of FIGURE 3.

Referring now to the drawings wherein the showings are for the purposeof illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention only and not forthe purpose of limiting same, FIGURES 1 and 2 show a plow bladeattachcment 10 comprising a plow blade 12 pivotally supported at 14 on ayoke member 16 which in turn is adapted to be pivotally mounted at 18 toa motorized vehicle. Springs 20 are tension springs to retract the bladeafter striking an immovable object below the blade horizontal pivot 18.

As is standard with articulated plow attachments of the typeillustrated, the blade 12 can also be angled in a Patented Nov. 21, 1967horizontal plane and in accordance with the invention, the blade 12 isangled with respect to the yoke member 16 by means of a blade anglingand locking mechanism indicated generally by the numeral 22. Themechanism 22 includes a plate member 25 mounted on the blade and havingan arcuate edge 27 formed with a plurality of cir cumferentially spaced,radially extending notches 29 therein. While the notches 29 are shown asbeing rectangular in the preferred embodiment of the invention, itshould be understood that almost any type of recess or groove in theedge 27 can be used so long as there is an unobstructed rear access aswill be made clear hereinafter.

Referring now to FIGURES 3 and 4, the mechanism 22 also includes amounting and latch assembly 31. The assembly 31 includes a guide block32 formed by horizontally extending elements 33 and 34 vertically spacedapart to define a horizontal slot 35 adapted to slidably receive theplate 25. A vertical slot 37 in the elements 33, 34 is of the samegeneral size and shape as the notches 29 in the plate member 25 andopens in a radial direction for an unobstructed access from the rear ingeneral alignment with the blade pivot 14.

The assembly 31 also includes a lever arrangement 50 which comprises abifurcated lever 51 pivoted at 52 for movement in a vertical plane inalignment with the slot 37 by means of a handle 53 welded to the outerend of the lever 51. An arm 55 is pivotally mounted at 57 near the outerend of the lever 51 and extends through an enlarged opening 59 in avertically extending wall 60. A spring element 61 bears against the wall60 to bias the arm 55 and thus the lever 51 in a counterclockwisedirection about the pivot 52 as viewed in FIGURE 3.

Below the lever 51 is a bracket 63 mounted on the wall 60 and extendinghorizontally outwardly to provide a pivot 65 for mounting a tubularhousing 67. The tubular housing 67 is arranged for movement in thevertical plane of the slot 37 and extends vertically through thebifurcated lever 51 where it is freely guided therein by a pair of dogs69 on the inner surface of sides of the lever. Arranged within thetubular housing 67 is a flexible strap 70 which is bent to conform tothe interior of the housing 67 and provide a bottom 71 therefor, thefree end 73 above the top of the housing 67 being bent outwardly toprovide an adjustable depth for the bottom 71 for reasons appearinghereinafter.

A pin 75 rests against the bottom 71 of the tubular housing 67 andextends vertically through the slot 37 when in the locking position asshown in FIGURE 3 and is adapted to register with one of the radiallyextending notches 29 of the movable plate member 25. The pin 75, likenotches 29, preferably has a rectangular cross-sectional shape and isformed of a metal having a lower shear modulus than the material ofeither the plate member 25 or the guide block 32. The rectangular shapeallows the pins flat sides to bear against the flat sides of a notch 29and slot 37 thus lessening the wear on the pin and other parts. Ofcourse any cross-sectional shape may be employed without departing fromthe invention, but a flat-against-flat wearing arrangement is preferred.In addition the pin 75 may be segmented by means of notches 77 onopposite sides thereof thus defining a plurality of shear segments 80throughout substantially the entire axial length. The pin is verticallyelevated so that at least one segment 80 is disposed in the horizontalslot 35 of the guide block 32. However, notches 77 may be unnecessary asexplained hereinafter.

In operation when the operator desires to change the angle of the plowblade 12, it is raised above the ground and the handle 53 is lifted thusswinging lever 51 in a clockwise manner as viewed in FIGURE 3 about itspivot 52. This movement causes dogs 69 to engage the tubular housing 67substantially above its pivot 65 thus causing it with the pin 75-therein to rotate out of the locking position with notch 29 thusunlocking the movable plate member 25. This movement also causes thepivoted end of lever 55 to swing outwardly and downwardly against theforce of spring 61 thereby decreasing the opposing moment arm acting onlever 51 due to spring 61. When the handle 53 has been raisedsufficiently to tilt the pin 75 to the dot-dash position outlined inFIGURE 3, the pivoted end of the arm 55 will have been pulled downwardlya suflicient amount relative to the pivot 52 of lever 51 to cause anover center condition with respect to spring 61 whereby it remainscompressed but does not bias the bifurcated lever 51 and tubular housing67 in the locking direction.

The operator can now rotate the blade 12 to the desired angle so that anotch 29 approximately registers with the slot 37. The over centercondition of spring 61 is then released by moving the handle 53 down.The pin 75 springs into locking position against the plate 25- passingthrough the slot 37 and into registration with one of the notches 29.This greatly facilitates the speed of plow angling over the prior artwhere it was necessary to sight down through a pair of holes in order toinsert the locking pin. With the present invention even a slightmisalignment is of no consequence, since the pin 75 is spring biasedtoward the locked position. In other words, if upon being released, thepin strikes the edge 27 of plate 25 instead of fitting within a notch29, it is only necessary for the operator to rotate the blade 12 in theproper direction until a notch 29 becomes aligned with the slot 37whereupon the pin 75 automatically snaps into locked position.

The pin 75 is preferably expendable and upon relative movement of theplate member 25 with respect to the guide block 32 due to an excessiveturning force on the blade 12, the pin 75 will be sheared. To minimizebending or burring of the pin 75, it is divided into shear segmentsseparated by planes of weakness through the pin. However, if the pin issoft enough, the notches 77 can be eliminated and a completely smoothpin used without excessive bending or burring because the pin is held intwo plates while shearing takes place. That is, the guide block elements33, 34 hold the pin at axially spaced locations while the plate 25shears it in between.

When the pin 75 is sheared, it will be considerably shortened andobviously will not reach to the required vertical height to providelocking engagement with the plate 25. Thus, in accordance with theinvention, the pin is longer than otherwise required and may be extendedfrom within the housing 67 by adjusting the flexible strap 70 so thatthe bottom 71 is raised sufliciently to compensate for the foreshortenedcondition of the pin.

Having thus described a preferred embodiment of the invention and itsmethod of operation it will be appreciated that numerous modificationsand changes can be made which would be obvious to those skilled in theart without departing from the invention as defiined by the appendedclaims insofar as they are limited by the prior art.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In combination with an angularly adjustable plow blade, adjustmentand locking means comprising a horizontal plate member having an arcuateedge and being mounted on the blade for angular movement therewith, theedge being spaced from the blade pivot and having circumferentiallyspaced, radially extending notches therein,

locking means positioned adjacent the plate member defining a horizontalguide channel for slidably receiving said arcuate edge, said channelhaving an unobstructed vertical slot formed therein aligned with theblade pivot and extending radially inwardly in registration with one ofsaid notches,

a pin member pivoted relative to said channel in alignment with saidslot and extending vertically beyond said plate member and spring meansfor biasing said pin member into locking engagement with said platemember when one of said notches is aligned with said slot.

2. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein said pin member ismade of a relatively soft material having a shear modulus substantiallyless than the material forming said plate member and guide channel so asto permit forceable blade movement by shearing the pin when apredeter-mined turning force on the blade is exceeded, the pin beingheld in two places by the guide channel to minimize bending of the pinmember.

3. The combination as set forth in claim 2 wherein the pin member has aflat wearing surface en-gageable with the side of said slot.

4. The combination as set forth in claim 3 wherein the notches, slot,and pin member are rectangular in crosssectional shape.

5. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein the pin is dividedinto shear segments throughout its length, one of said segments beingpositioned with said horizontal channel when the height of said pin isproperly adjusted.

6. In combination with an angularly adjustable plow blade pivotallymounted on a frame, adjustment and looking means comprising a horizontalplate member having an arcuately formed edge spaced from the blade pivotand having circumferentially spaced radially extending notches therein,

a locking member positioned adjacent the plate member including pinmeans movable in the radial plane of said edge for releasably engagingsaid plate memher at one of said notches, and

a horizontally extending mounting element in slidable engagement withthe plate member and having a slot formed therein adapted to registerwith one of said notches, said slot having an unobstructed accessaligned with said pin means to permit radial unlocking movement thereof,one of said members being mounted on the frame and the other beingmovable with said blade for relative arcuate movement with respect toeach other.

6 7. The combination as set forth in claim 6 wherein the pin means isformed of a material having a substantially lower shear modulus thanthat of either the plate member or mounting element so as to permitrelative movement of said members when a turning force is exerted onsaid blade in excess of a predetermined value.

8. The combination as set forth in claim 7 wherein said locking membercomprises in addition a tubular member for housing said pin means whichis pivotally mounted for movement in a vertical plane aligned with saidslot, length adjust-ment means cooperating with said tubular member andpin means for adjustably extending the pin means vertically relative tothe tubular member so that the top of the pin means is above the planeof said arcuately formed edge, and spring means biasing said tubularmember and pin means toward the locking position with said plate member.9. The combination as set forth in claim 8 wherein said spring meanscomprises spring biased lever means pivotally mounted for engagementwith the tubular member and urging said tubular member and pin meansinto locking engagement except in one position, the biasing force beinginoperative in said one position due to the angular position of saidlever means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,468,950 5/1949 Weidman 37422,792,650 5/1957 Kenyon 37-42 2,854,766 10/1958 Miller 3742 ABRAHAM G.STONE, Primary Examiner.

R. L. HOLLISTER, Assistant Examiner.

1. IN COMBINATION WITH AN ANGULARLY ADJUSTABLE PLOW BLADE, ADJUSTMENTAND LOCKING MEANS COMPRISING A HORIZONTAL PLATE MEMBER HAVING AN ARCUATEEDGE AND BEING MOUNTED ON THE PLATE FOR ANGULAR MOVEMENT THEREWITH, THEEDGE BEING SPACED FROM THE BLADE PIVOT AND HAVING CIRCUMFERENTIALLYSPACED, RADIALLY EXTENDING NOTCHES, THEREIN, LOCKING MEANS POSITIONEDADJACENT THE PLATE MEMBER DEFINING A HORIZONTAL GUIDE CHANNEL FORSLIDABLY RECEIVING SAID ARCUATE EDGE, SAID CHANNEL HAVING ANUNOBSTRUCTED VERTICAL SLOT FORMED THEREIN ALIGNED WITH THE BLADE PIVOTAND EXTENDING RADIALLY INWARDLY IN REGISTRATION WITH ONE OF SAIDNOTCHES,